Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) in Pennsylvania
8/26/10-West Virginia, Pennsylvania Fracking Incidents A Lesson for New York
New York State’s fracking moratorium has enabled regulators to learn from what is going on in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where fracking is routine, according to the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review. Although the practice of fracking has begun in the Marcellus Shale—an enormous formation beneath New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia—the moratorium has held off those activities in NY, for now. More? Click Here.
__________________________________________________________________________
8/18/10-PA Natural Gas Drilling Co. Fined Over Fracking Fluid Spill
Atlas Resources LLC, a natural Natural Gas Drilling company with operations in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale region, has been fined $97,350 for a spill of hydraulic fracturing fluids in the southwest part of the state. According to a press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the spill, which occurred late last year, polluted a high-quality watershed in Hopewell Township, Washington County. More? Click Here.
__________________________________________________________________________
8/12/10-Gas Drillers in PA Seek to Force Property Owners to Allow Fracking
The hydraulic fracturing industry in Pennsylvania is pushing for the enactment of a so-called “pooling” law. Such a law would force Pennsylvania property owners to sell their below-ground natural gas rights to a drilling company if their neighbors were doing the same. More? Click Here.
__________________________________________________________________________
8/09/10-Pennsylvania Law Seeks Fracking Moratorium
A Pennsylvania state lawmaker wants to put the brakes on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the Marcellus shale there. Rep. Phyllis Mundy (D-120) is the primary sponsor of House Bill 2609, which would impose a one-year moratorium on issuing new natural gas well permits in Pennsylvania. More? Click Here.
__________________________________________________________________________
8/05/10-Ex-Governor Tom Ridge Latest Former Pennsylvania Official to Sign on with Frackers
Former Governor Tom Ridge has become just the latest ex-Pennsylvania official to enter into a lucrative arrangement with the Natural Gas Drilling industry that is seeking to expand hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the state’s Marcellus shale region. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, late last month, two of Ridge’s consulting firms – Ridge Global and the Ridge Policy Group – signed one year contracts to serve as strategic advisers to the Marcellus Shale Coalition. The contracts will net Ridge’s firms a total of $900,000 this year. More? Click Here.
__________________________________________________________________________
6/03/10-Pennsylvania Natural Gas Well Blowout
Houston-based EOG Resources Inc. (EOG) was ordered to temporarily halt natural-Natural Gas Drilling in Pennsylvania, following a well blowout in the northwestern part of the state on June 3, 2010. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said the firm was banned from all drilling activities for seven days, and wouldn't be allowed to engage in any hydraulic fracturing for up to 14 days. More? Click Here.
__________________________________________________________________________
Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) in Pennsylvania
In the controversy surrounding hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, Pennsylvania has become a major battleground. Not only was the state featured prominently in the recent HBO documentary "GasLand," but it has also been site of several disturbing incidents that highlight the dangers posed by such Natural Gas Drilling operations.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Pennsylvania is in the midst of a fracking boom. Between January and July 2010, 575 shale wells were drilled in the state--up from just two in 2005. A Pennsylvania State University study estimates that the shale industry could generate $13.5 billion for the state economy and 175,000 jobs in 2020.
That prospect has Pennsylvania government officials anxiously courting the industry, which they see as a way to plug the state's gaping budget holes. According to the Journal, Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, reached an agreement with legislative leaders in July 2010 to introduce by Oct. 1 a tax on production.
But what will this boom cost the state? John Hanger, the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP, told The Wall Street Journal that "there are going to be some environmental impacts even when it's done well."
A number of incidents have raised serious concerns about what those impacts could be. In early June 2010, a blowout occurred at a well site operated by Houston-based EOG Resources Inc. in rural Clearfield County, about 100 miles north of Pittsburgh. At the time, a service rig operated by a contractor was in the final stages of completing the well and bringing it into production. The EOG well was one of four located on the same drilling pad at a hunting club in Lawrence Township, near Moshannon State Forest. No one was injured in the Pennsylvania blowout, but 35,000 gallons of drilling fluids were released before it was contained the following afternoon.
Then a month later, the state DEP announced some cows on a Tioga County farm were quarantined after coming into contact with toxic wastewater from a hydraulic fracturing operation. The 28 cows, which were quarantined May 1, had access to a pool of toxic water for at least three days. The pool formed as a result of a leak in a wastewater holding pond. Eastern Resources Inc. was drilling for natural gas on the property. None of the cows were actually seen drinking the wastewater, but cattle tracks leading to the pool were found. Grass around the pool was also dead. There is a possibility that the cows’ meat may have become contaminated, according to the DEP. Tests found the water contained chemicals including chloride, magnesium, potassium, and strontium, the department said in a statement.
Then there is the case of Dimock, Pennsylvania, a town which fracking opponents say was destroyed by Natural Gas Drilling. The story of Dimock was among those told by the "GasLand" documentary. Several years ago, the majority of people in Dimock leased their land to Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., which now has 62 gas wells in the area.
But there was trouble almost from the start. In the winter of 2008, drinking water in several Dimock homes was found to contain metals and methane gas that state officials determined leaked underground from Cabot wells. In the spring of 2009, the company was fined for several other spills, including an 800-gallon diesel spill from a truck that overturned.
In September 2009, more than 8,000 gallons of dangerous hydraulic fracturing fluid was discharged following a series of spills from a well site run by Cabot. The drilling fluid involved in the spill was described as a “potential carcinogen.”
This past April, the Pennsylvania DEP fined Cabot $240,000, and ordered it to permanently shut three wells and install water-treatment systems in 14 homes within 30 days or face a $30,000 a month fine. Its more than two-dozen pending drilling applications were also put on hold. Fifteen Dimock residents whose wells were contaminated are now suing Cabot.
Incidents like these have sparked opposition to fracking in the state. According to The Wall Street Journal, State Rep. Phyllis Mundy (D) recently introduced a bill calling for a moratorium on shale drilling in Pennsylvania and another measure prohibiting drilling within 2,500 feet of a primary source of supply for a community water system, such as a lake or reservoir. Mundy has said the moratorium measure is unlikely to pass, but the other bill is garnering support and could be passed as an amendment to a larger proposal, the Journal said.